A Washington woman in her 70s lost about $1.3 million after believing a man posing as a bank employee was helping protect her money from someone inside the bank.
The money came from her late husband’s life-insurance policy, prosecutors said, according to the Tri-City Herald. The loss was so severe that the woman has had to return to work years after retiring.
The scam began after she noticed a charge she did not recognize and called what she believed was her bank’s phone number in February 2025. She was routed to someone she thought was in the bank’s fraud department.
The man identified himself as “Joshua” and told her someone inside the bank was skimming money, the newspaper reported. He then began directing her to move money into what she believed was a secure account.
The Fake Bank Call Turned Into Wires, Checks, and Couriers
The woman initially believed she was protecting her savings. The caller stayed in regular contact, sometimes asking for more money and sometimes talking with her personally, according to the report. She said he told her he had children and coached baseball.
The payments moved through several methods. After wire transfers and checks, the caller allegedly directed her to hand cash to a courier. She later became suspicious when she needed money for surgery and could not get it back.
After taking a class about scams, she realized she had been defrauded and contacted Pasco police. Investigators told her to stop sending money but not to cut off contact, then provided money for a controlled handoff to catch someone connected to the scheme.
A Wisconsin Courier Was Caught After a $100,000 Handoff
Nancy K. Jahnke, 69, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, met with the victim on at least two occasions and received $170,000 from her, court documents said, according to the Tri-City Herald.
Detectives arrested Jahnke after a $100,000 handoff on Feb. 5. She later admitted she had been directed by “Joshua” to travel from Wisconsin to Pasco to pick up the money.
Jahnke was paid $5,000 for each trip, the newspaper reported. She opened multiple bank accounts, kept a portion of the money, and transferred the rest into cryptocurrency wallets controlled by “Joshua” using CoinFlip Bitcoin machines.
Franklin County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Julie Long said “Joshua” has not been found. His phone number was turned off, and investigators had not been able to track him down as of the sentencing report.
Only About $40,000 Has Been Found
Long said only about $40,000 had been found, and the victim had not been able to access it, according to the Tri-City Herald.
Jahnke pleaded guilty to first-degree theft and first-degree trafficking in stolen property. Prosecutors and the defense recommended six months in jail, with Long explaining that Jahnke was not the main suspect in the case.
Long told the court the case was more egregious because Jahnke had been victimized by the same person and knew the consequences before turning around and doing it to another person.
The Judge Gave the Courier Nine Months
The victim told Judge Norma Rodriguez that she needed to return to work because of the fraud.
Defense attorney Tim Dickerson said Jahnke accepted responsibility, regretted her actions, and had received only a small percentage of the money. Jahnke apologized in court and said she had “paid dearly” while waiting in the Franklin County Jail, the newspaper reported.
Rodriguez rejected the six-month recommendation and sentenced Jahnke to nine months in jail.
“She lost over $1 million and this woman has to go to back to work at her age,” Rodriguez said, according to the Tri-City Herald. “I can’t follow the recommendation, I’m sorry.”
The Bitcoin Machine Detail Fits a Larger Tri-Cities Problem
The case also touched a local pressure point: cryptocurrency kiosks.
Kennewick officials recently banned cryptocurrency ATM kiosks after police said local residents had reported nearly $1 million in kiosk-related scam losses since 2023, according to a separate Tri-City Herald report.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center said it received more than 13,400 complaints involving cryptocurrency kiosks in 2025, with reported losses of more than $388 million. More than half of those complaints involved people over 50, and their losses topped $302 million.
A real bank employee will not ask a customer to move life savings through wires, checks, cash couriers, or Bitcoin machines to keep it safe. The safest response to a call about money being stolen inside a bank is to hang up and contact the bank directly using the number on the back of a card, a statement, the official app, or the bank’s verified website.